Idle in Arizona

[htmb]

When I travel I like to be able to take off and land at an airport close to home. The alternative is to drive two hours to Tampa or Orlando, or to the smaller airport in Jacksonville. I fly out of the small airport in Gainesville instead. However, I may need to rethink this plan.

Flying out of the Gainesville Regional Airport can be a smooth and simple experience, or it can be an hour and twenty minute roller coaster ride, such as my recent experience. Our flight left at 5:20 AM, so not only was it pitch black outside, it was also stormy. It's bad enough flying through a storm in a larger plane, but the little regional jets feel like tossing, tinker toys to me. 

I knew we were in trouble when the man in front of me proceeded to vomit masterfully into a barf bag, before we had even taken off. I'm not sure if he was sick from food poisoning, the flu, or just hung over, but it was quite unpleasant for the rest of us to say the least.

Next, we took off into the dark with all the cabin lights turned off. This made the lightening flashes outside seem even brighter. The cabin attendant was able to briefly serve beverages before he received a call from the cockpit. He hung up the phone, buckled himself into his jumps seat, and then the pitching and rolling began. Ugh.

We landed in Charlotte and I had a two hour layover to relax and recover.  I was optimistic the next flight would be better since I would be on a larger plane. Looking at the Weather Channel I could see that the whole southeastern United States down to North Florida was one massive storm system. I should have flown out of Tampa.  

The rain in Charlotte got worse as we prepared to leave, and it was bumpy for the first hour or so. Did I mention I also had a lousy bit of bronchitis and was feeling pretty rotten. This was to be a very long day. 

Once we finally got past the storms the flight smoothed out and I was able to sleep a bit. Later, opening my window shade somewhere over Kansas or Oklahoma, I was awed by the beauty of the snow-covered Midwest from above.







After awhile, the plane seemed to turn a bit to the south and we flew over what I believe to be Northern New Mexico.

[Deleted]

Those photos are delightfully abstract. I didn't remember that American agricultural fields are so perfectly rectangular. As you have probably noticed, in Europe the fields follow the lay of the land, the streams, the hills, the woodlots and there are practically no straight lines. I guess that's what you get from starting your cultivation 1000 years earlier with no way to properly measure anything.

I remember numerous exciting flights from various North Carolina airports on Piedmont, trying to get north or south through all of those storms. I think one time it was a flight from Kinston to Norfolk (where we had to connect to JFK) when I was taking my father to Paris where I was afraid that he was going to pass out due to the turbulence -- and he had been through both WW2 and the Korean War with nothing scary to report, even when his ship sank in Pearl Harbor.

[htmb]

The flight was so turbulent that, when I finally got to my destination and laid down to go to sleep, I still felt like I was moving. It was as if I'd been on a boat all day in rough seas.

Fortunately, the rest of the trip that day was smooth.

[lola]

Love those photos.

Was that the storm that just passed through yesterday, dumping a record for March 12.2 inches in St. Louis?

[htmb]

Mar 26, 2013 0:39:10 GMT lola said:

Love those photos.

Was that the storm that just passed through yesterday, dumping a record for March 12.2 inches in St. Louis?

GULP! Apparently so.

[htmb]

We passed over a long river, 




and what looked to me like a ridge.





Way off in the distance I got a first glimpse of my final destination. In the first picture, one can just see the snow capped mountains. The highest peaks in the distance.





And here they are as seen with the zoom lens.





As we flew over what I believe is Lake Roosevelt, the plane began to make its descent.














Until, finally, we were landing.

[bixaorellana]

Well, dang you, Ms. Htmb! I have a whole stash of pictures taken from the air from Oaxaca to the Texas border. But someone, someone who is not lazy, who has her act together, & who is talented with a camera has swooped in & made a really wonderful in-flight thread. Humph!

My goodness, you covered some territory. What is that final picture?

My dad used to take us up in light aircraft when we lived in the midwest & I loved how it looked like a crazy quilt of squares & rectangles. But I never saw it in the snow like in your beautiful picture.

Super thread & super idea! (humph!)

[htmb]

Thank you, bixa. I hope to have lots more to post. The photos from the air were just the beginning. Plus, I was bored as anything sitting on that plane and I needed to do something to pass the time.

[mossie]

Full marks for making an interesting report out of a bus trip. It is not easy getting good shots from an aircraft. Flying in bad weather is never fun, although it can be exhilarating. Just makes you realise the power of nature.

[htmb]

It's always a bit of a shock to travel from green and lush Gainesville to brown and edgy Phoenix. The seemingly absence of trees, along with the odd mountain jutting out of the earth here and there always makes me feel like I've just landed on the moon. Off in the distance we can see part of the downtown area.






However, there are still miles to travel to get to my final destination. Remember those mountain peaks? They are up the road a ways through some barren and open terrain that soon turns to rock.

[htmb]

Driving north on Interstate 17 the road begins to climb as it leads up to an elevation of 7,000 feet (2,130 m). 













Up in the distance I begin to get new glimpses of my final destination.

[Deleted]

I think you have a job waiting for you at Google Earth.

[htmb]

Mar 26, 2013 15:10:39 GMT kerouac2 said:

I think you have a job waiting for you at Google Earth.

Oh, Kerouac! Too funny!

[htmb]

Off to the west are the red rocks of Sedona.













As I get closer to the San Francisco Peaks, I know I've almost reached my destination of Flagstaff, Arizona.

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The city of Flagstaff is a major railroad hub, which makes it hard to escape the sounds of the many trains passing through each day.




Its population is a mixture of different types of people, but it is known as a more liberal-minded town in contrast to much of the rest of the state of Arizona. Outdoor enthusiasists live here because of the natural beauty of the area, where they can also enjoy the many miles of urban trails.




And, seemingly around every corner, there stand the San Francisco Peaks.

[htmb]

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Looking for elk in the Coconino Forest at dusk.
















No elk this time, but the sunset over Lake Mary on the return drive was spectacular.

[fumobici]

That does look very much like elk country. Perhaps a little flat, they like really rugged topology. I love the eerie bugling they do in the Fall.

[bjd]

Thanks for this, htmb. I just started reading some old Tony Hillerman books set around there, so now I can imagine the scenery he describes.

[Deleted]

Great aerial shots HTMB!!
Yes, I'm sure the contrast in the landscape for you must have been startling. I felt the same way the first time I went out West for the first time and after a few subsequent trips there.
Although I did enjoy some really wonderful visits with friends in both Arizona and New Mexico I just couldn't live in that barren a type of landscape, and, land locked to boot...
I toyed with the idea of going to college in Flagstaff. Applied to a college there and was accepted. I opted for NOLA instead.
After revisiting that idea with these pics, I am thinking how vastly different my life would have been had I chosen to live there versus here.
I am definitely a water girl.
Thanks for this HTMB.

[Deleted]

When my family moved from Mississippi to California, it was the first time we had ever crossed the Mississippi River to begin with, so you can imagine how impressed we were by the changing scenery all along the way. Even though we never strayed from I-10, seeing cacti and tumbleweed for the first time was a big thrill.

[htmb]

Though I've visited Northern Arizona many times since the mid- 1990's, I don't think I've ever been here during the spring pollen season. The weather has been perfect, daytime temperatures in the 60's, but the pollen count is quite high at the moment.




This is a popular area for serious bikers.




There's a nice little museum in Flagstaff with several different displays. Here's a sampling of some of the things I saw.

























The following photo is not very clear, due to the lucite protective case. However, the item  is a fragment of a painting found in an abandoned Hopi Indian village and is estimated to have been painted 500 to 700 years ago.

[htmb]

Fumobici, I've never had the opportunity to hear an elk in the fall, but hope to one day.

Bjd, I hope to give you many more visuals to go along with your current readings. I read Jeannette Walls Half Broke Horses while I was here on another trip and I was really happy at the timing. The story is historical fiction based on Walls' grandmother and takes place in this part of the country.

Casimira, saying your life would have been very different had you attended school in Arizona has got to be a total and complete understatement! Wow. What a difference between here and NOLA.

Kerouac, you've reminded me that I meant to get photos of Saguaro cactus.

[htmb]

I wish I'd gone back and gotten a better photo once this crowd had moved on. The students are looking at a beautiful example of a Navajo floor rug.

[htmb]

Having never been up on the San Francisco Peaks, the mountain range we first saw from the airplane, it was a treat to drive up to the Snow Bowl Ski area located on the northwest side of the mountains.

[htmb]

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Within an hour I literally went from a mountain ski area to a river gorge on the road into Sedona where there looked to be at least fifty people swimming. The road is twisty, with several switchbacks as it descends a couple thousand feet in altitude. I must say that driving straight from the Snowbowl at San Francisco Peaks with an altitude of 9,200 feet down to Sedona at 4,500 feet was really rough on my ears due to allergies, but the view traveling down into the canyon was spectacular.

[htmb]

Looking up at the rock walls I can begin to see red coloring, indicating I'm getting closer to Sedona which is famously known for its red rocks.

[lugg]

Vicarious enjoyment by the bucket load ... bitter sweet for me as I had a trip planned to many of the same places about 18 months ago that unfortunately I had to cancel.

What a beautiful and varied state this is. Stunning photos as usual htmb. Amazing that people can be skiing and swimming at the same time within a relatively short distance

I really enjoyed seeing your in-flight photos too; however I completely misplaced where you were going as you described your flights , I thought your destination was much further north west.

[Deleted]

That museum looks quite interesting.

I have never thought of Arizona as having ski resorts. Just goes to show how limited my imagination can be. (But then again, it must be a classic mental error -- one associates Arizona with 'deserts' rather than 'mountains' -- and that's the way it is in my mind even though I have driven across Arizona and even the mountains -- but not during the winter!)